I picked up the package containing my newest reader at the post office this morning. I've used it about half an hour, and I'm really having trouble not saying rude things about Aiptek.
The Story Book in Color has an 8" LCD screen, and the dimensions are about an inch taller and wider than the original Kindle. It doesn't have a touch screen, but it does have speakers, USB Host, and a SD/MMC/MSPro card slot. It has a white book like case that is covered with speckles of color. The inner lining of the case is soft green faux leather with 3 slots stitched in the opposite face for spare SD cards.
It can play MP3s and show jpeg images, but the only ebook format that it supports is proprietary to Aiptek. I've already asked for a copy of the software needed to make the ebooks; they said no.
It came with 20 ebooks, and they all have a target audience in the 4 to 8 year old age group. All the ebooks have color page images, and all are narrated.
Eric Carle's works are a good example of the type of book that would fit the design intent of this device.
Now let's consider what's wrong with the Story Book in Color. It's obvious that the target audience is small children. I do not understand why Aiptek would expect that the average 6 year old could be trusted with a $200 piece of electronics. Nothing against children here; it's just that they're destructive little buggers.
Think about this device's abilities. It shows images and plays words. Why would someone buy this when they already have a television that does the same thing? Literally the same thing.
Consider the locked in format. One must buy all ebooks from Aiptek. Why would you do that when anyone who had kids probably already has a collection of kid's movies?
Lastly, why did they add those slots for spare SD cards? Don't they realize that some kid would take the card out of the slot and try to swallow it? I figured that out right away, and I don't even _have_ kids.
Frankly, I do not see why anyone would buy this.